BEIJING, May 21 (Xinhua) -- The following are the updates on the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

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NICOSIA -- Cyprus took yet another step back to pre-coronavirus pandemic normality with the lifting of all restrictions on movement, the reopening of most schools and the resumption of restaurants and other recreation spots services, officials announced Thursday.

As of 6 a.m. local time (0300 GMT), people drove to their jobs or to the shops without having to request prior permission. Police said they kept up their checks to the last moment, booking about 30 people for being out on the streets before the expiry of a night curfew.

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TEHRAN -- Iran on Thursday registered 66 new deaths from COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 7,249, according to the state TV.

During an online press conference, Kianush Jahanpur, head of Public Relations and Information Center of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education, confirmed 2,392 new infection cases, taking the total cases to 129,341.

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MADRID -- Spain will be able to reopen its international tourism sector in July, Fourth Deputy Prime Minister Teresa Ribera said Thursday, warning that allowing visitors to return sooner would be "irresponsible."

"Our thought at the moment is that we will be able to work over safe destinations and countries of origin in July, rather than June," said Ribera, also minister for ecological transition, in an interview on national TV network RTVE.

Prof. Nasima Sultana, a senior health ministry official, told an online media briefing in Dhaka that "22 COVID-19 deaths including 19 men and three women were confirmed in a 24-hour period, bringing the total number of fatalities in the country since March 18 to 408."

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MANILA -- The Philippine health department on Thursday reported that 213 more people have contracted the new coronavirus, bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country to 13,434.

In a daily bulletin, the Department of Health (DOH) said 68 more patients have recovered from the disease, bringing the number of recoveries to 3,000. It added that four more patients have died from COVID-19, bringing the death toll to 846.

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BEIJING -- The China Association for Science and Technology has called on the country's sci-tech journal publishers to contribute to the COVID-19 database of the World Health Organization (WHO), sharing research data and experience to aid the fight against the pandemic.

The association released the initiative on its website Wednesday, saying that authorizing the WHO to use original metadata of Chinese COVID-19-related research papers is an effort to offer China's research progress and prevention experience more thoroughly and widely to global medical experts and scientists.